text:
You really have done so much for us here. If there is ANYTHING i can ever do to help your cause in any way don't ever hesitate to ask. I know how much work it has been to get us up and running and appreciate it more than you know.
Sent from my Kindle Fire 2, CM 10.1


text:
20100 Surnames | 131427 Records | 2699 Reunions
Dead Fred asks:Are you a Desperate Genealogist?
Click the e-book above for details!
Dead Fred's Genealogy Photo Archive, a free, fun photo genealogy research web site devoted to helping you visualize your heritage!
Photo Thumbnail
Click image for
larger view.
Order The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book: Creative Ways to Outsmart Your Elusive Ancestors (eBook).You can also order The Desperate Genealogist's Idea Book in hardcopy format by clicking here.
Photo #76062
Last Name: Bullock
First Name : Marion
Middle Name: Sumpter
Subject's City:
Subject's State:
Subject's County: USA
Subject's Country: USA
Date: 1901-1920
Photographer: Hartsook?
Photographer's City:
Photographer's State: Ca?
Type** : PRT
Comments: Marion Sumpter Bullock (Nee: ) | USA | 1901-1920 | Comments: Son of Samuel and Sarah Ann Bullock addressed to Mrs R.J. Perry Battle Lake , Mn /// WW1 Soldier Military War Doughboy ////
Donated to DeadFred May 2011. Donator wishes to remain anonymous . No information available . Contact email@example.com . Click below to view all of the donated photos
Digital Image Only? NO
Everyone Listed In This Photo:
To view all records posted by this submitter, click here:
Search Photos | Post Photos | Surnames | Mysteries | Annuals
Meet Fred | Testimonials | Media | Archivists | FAQs
Contact Us | Groups | Links | Your Own Search Box | Marketplace
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
Free genealogy searches for those looking into their family history.
© 2001-2018 DeadFred.com Genealogy Photo Archive
P.O. Box 6937 | Springdale, AR | 72766-6937 | (479) 750-0082
Search Photos
Post Photos
Meet Fred
Media Center
Contact Us
Facebook Group
Your Own Search Box

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Input your registered email address to reset your password
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Interested in this course? Ask someone to share about it!
|Lai Pipi, studying Integrated BBA
previously shared on GENA1112 Aspects of General Education
|Ask For Sharing
|charles, studying Bachelor of Laws
previously shared on GENA2272 Appreciation of Western Art
|Ask For Sharing
|Vaselina Lip
previously shared on GENA2212 Debates in Human Values
|Ask For Sharing
|hoho, studying Professional Accountancy
previously shared on GENA1000 College Biweekly Assembly
|Ask For Sharing
previously shared on GENA1112 Aspects of General Education
|Ask For Sharing
There is no sharing on this course yet. Be the first one!
Sign Up
If you have any inquiry on RegCourse, please drop us an email. We will get back to you very soon.


text:
Academic Load: The academic load is the number of credit hours a student carries in a semester. For purposes of financial aid, 12 or more semester hours is considered full-time. However, to graduate in four years, a student must earn 31 credit hours an academic year (15 and 16 hours per semester).
Alma Mater: The school, college, or university which one attends; also the song or hymn of a school, college, or university. The words in Latin mean "fostering mother."
Words to Indiana State's Alma Mater:
Out upon the swelling breezes,
let our voices ring
As to thee, our Alma Mater,
heartfelt praise we sing.
Though the years to come may part us,
Friends and comrades true,
ISU, our Alma Mater, here's our pledge to you.
B.A.: the abbreviation for the bachelor of arts degree. This baccalaureate degree traditionally requires 12 credit hours in a single foreign language. Requirements for this degree vary depending on the college of enrollment.
B.S.: Similar to the B.A., the B.S. stands for the bachelor of science degree. This baccalaureate degree is traditionally conferred upon students who have not completed four semesters of credit in a single foreign language. Requirements for this degree vary depending on the college of enrollment.
Blue Bucks: a declining balance account tied to the Sycamore ID card, and is similar to the way a debit card works. Students can make food purchases at participating off campus merchants by swiping their Sycamore ID card.
Class Standing: determined by the cumulative number of credit hours completed. Freshman status is assigned to all new students. Sophomore classification will be granted to students who have completed 30 earned hours. Junior classification will be granted to students who have completed 60 earned hours . Senior classification will be granted to students who have completed 90 earned hours.
The Commons: The place to meet and be seen. Located in Hulman Memorial Student Union, the Commons houses the Bookstore, Generations restaurant, a bank, a copy center, convenience store, and a variety of fast-food establishments.
Commons Cash: part of the meal plan that can be spent at any food outlet in the Commons. Freshmen who live in residence halls are restricted from using Commons Cash Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
Commuter: any student who does not live in a residence hall.
Academic credit: term used to describe a unit of academic work. Each class at ISU is worth one, two, three, or four credits, usually corresponding to the number of hours the class meets per week. The words "credits" and "hours" are used interchangeably. A student must earn a minimum of 124 credits (or hours) to graduate, excluding duplicate hours. To graduate within four years, students must earn at least 31 credits (or hours) an academic year.
Food credits: part of the meal plan used primarily in resident dining. Credits get students into the Sycamore or Lincoln dining room for the "all you care to eat" meals. These credits may also be used on the weekends in the Commons at selected retail outlets (Burger King and Taco Bell for example). Students can convert excess credits to Commons Cash. Additional credits can be purchased for only 20 cents per credit.
DARS: The Degree Audit Reporting System allows your student to track their progress toward their degree regarding requirements met and requirements remaining unmet. Your student can receive an audit anytime from interact.indstate.edu. Information regarding DARS can be obtained from academic advisors or by visiting http://www.indstate.edu/enrsvc/ and following Degree Audit and Transfer instructions.
Dede: Pronounced DeeDee. This is the name given to the fountain area (Dede Plaza) and to three activity areas within Hulman Memorial Student Union. These areas were named for Ed and Mary Dede, two local philanthropists who donated money toward the Union complex.
Donaghy Day: Named after Fred Donaghy, graduate of the Normal School (1912) and a professor of life sciences, Donaghy Day was initiated in 1976 as a day set aside to help beautify the campus and surrounding community. Donaghy Day takes place one day in the fall and again in the spring and is a great way for students to give back to the community, to connect with other students and share in this experience together.
E-mail: Your student should regularly access their ISU Outlook e-mail account to receive official communications from the University.
Encumbrance: If your student is encumbered, a hold is put on any future registration. An encumbrance can be issued for money owed the University or for conduct violations. Students who have been academically dismissed are encumbered.
FERPA: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, a federal law which gave students access to their education records, an opportunity to seek to have the records amended, and some control over the disclosure of information from the records. With several exceptions, schools must have a student's consent prior to the disclosure of education records. This federal law also gave students 18 years old or older, or students of any age if enrolled in any post-secondary educational institution, the right of privacy regarding grades, enrollment, and even billing information, unless the school has specific permission from the student to share that specific type of information with the parent.
Foundational Studies: Formerly known as General Education. curriculum seeks to create well rounded individual; students have the opportunity to take courses in science, history, literature, behavioral sciences, and the fine arts. Together the major and the Foundational Studies curriculum prepare students to be effective communicators, critical thinkers, and informed decision makers.
GPA: Another abbreviation, this one stands for grade
point average. Indiana State uses a 4.0 system where an A+ and A= 4
points, A- = 3.7 points, B+ = 3.3 points, B = 3 points, B- = 2.7 points,
C+ = 2.3 points, C = 2 points, C- = 1.7 points, D+ = 1.3 points, D =1
point, D- = 0.7 point, and F = 0 points.
To find the grade point average, add the total number of points earned and divide by the number of semester hours (credits) attempted. A grade of 2.0 or above is required for graduation.
March On: March On (You Fighting Sycamores)," the University's fight song, was authored and arranged by Joseph A. Gremelspacher, an ISU professor of music, as a pep song. It was first performed at a homecoming pep rally on October 20, 1939.
Words to March On:
March on! March on, you fighting Sycamores, Sycamores,
March on, you Statesmen tried and true.
March on! March on, to glorious vic-to-ry.
Raise that flag of Royal Blue!
March on! March on, you fighting Sycamores, Sycamores,
Shout out the victory song!
Onward, ever onward to the goal, as you march, on and on!
Microsoft Campus Agreement: ISU has signed an agreement with Microsoft for students to use the more popular Microsoft software programs, including the Microsoft Office suite (e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Access). All ISU students who have paid the student technology fee can obtain copies of this software for PC or Mac at no additional charge. Students are required to show an ISU picture ID and sign an acceptance form. For additional information about the agreement visit http://www.indstate.edu/oit/ msca/
MyISU Portal: The MyISU portal is a secure University Intranet for the ISU community and the gateway for official University information. This is where your student can check e-mail, register for courses, and look at their account balances on-line. The portal's address is http://myisu.indstate.edu
Prerequisite: A prerequisite is a requirement which must be completed before taking certain classes. Examples of prerequisites include class standing, completion of another course, or permission of the instructor.
Provost: The highest ranking academic official at an institution of higher education.
The Quad
Lincoln Quad: One of two "Quads" at ISU, Lincoln Quad is a residence hall complex on the north end of campus which consists of suites with a common living room.
Grassy Quad: The other "Quad" is the traditional center of campus, where Condit House is located.
Spring Week: One week of activities in April which include a tandem bicycle race.
Student Recreation Center:This facility houses a three-court gymnasium, a MAC (multi-activity court), aquatics and fitness areas, a juice bar and lounge area, locker facilities and equipment rooms, a massage therapy room, and administrative offices.
Student Technology Fee: The Student Technology Fee is designed to provide funds for the improvement of technology used by your student at Indiana State University. These funds are used for such things as purchasing the Microsoft Campus Agreement for students, upgrading student access technology laboratories, and providing laser printing.
Sycamore Card: The official name for a student's ID card. Among other things, this card serves as the meal card, allows entrance into all campus activities, and is used to check out materials from Cunningham Memorial Library.
Sycamore Sam: Sycamore Sam is ISU's mascot for athletics.


text:
MOVE your mouse around to increase the randomness...
OR type some random characters into this textbox
Skip this step if you do not plan to use the random seed generator.
Bitcoin Paper Wallet Generator
About Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a digital currency created in 2009 that uses a decentralised ledger for secure payments and storing money that doesn't require centralised banks or people's personal information. It was announced as a way to liberate money in a similar way to how the internet made information free.
Paper Wallet?
A paper wallet is a form of offline storage for your Bitcoin currency. By generating a public and private key using this service, you will be creating an offline wallet ready to receive Bitcoin cryptocurrency. Once you have transferred currency to this wallet, be sure to print the wallet details and store them somewhere safe. Alternatively, if you are gifting coins to someone, you can use our paper wallet service to print an attractive wallet for this purpose. The step-by-step instructions below will help you complete the process.
1) Randomise your wallet seed
To provide the best security for your wallet, a random seed can be generated by moving your mouse around the web page until the counter reaches zero. This step can be skipped and a random seed will still be generated by the script, but it should be noted that computer random number generation is not as random as human generated randomness.
2) Print your wallet details
Once your wallet keys have been generated click the Paper Wallet tab and print the page. Choosing the high quality settings on your printer options will ensure that the text and QR codes are easily readable.
3) Fold the wallet
Folding your paper wallet along the lines shown will ensure that the private key is obfuscated from casual viewing.
Tip: Place your folded wallet inside a zip-loc bag to protect it from moisture damage.
4) Share your public address
Use your public address to receive money from other crypto-currency users. You can share your public address as much as you want.
5) Keep your private key secret
DO NOT share your private key with anyone. This is literally the keys to your coins, and the equivalent of the PIN number for your bank card. If someone was to obtain it, they could withdraw the funds currently in the wallet!
- Are you using a secure operating system with up-to-date anti-virus and syware protection?
• Is this website safe ?
Absolutely! PaperWalletGenerator.Com is based upon the same well tested code as bitaddress.org and simply adds support for additional currencies.
All code is plain text with no encryption or obfuscation and makes no calls to any external scripts or websites. PaperWalletGenerator.Com is designed in such a way that new wallets can be generated without an internet connection, allowing our visitors to create paper wallets offline (by disconnecting their Wi-Fi or cable connection), ensuring that no details of wallets generated on this website can be leaked elsewhere.
• Why should I use a paper wallet ?
Advantages of a paper wallet are multiple:
⇒ They are not subject to malwares and keyloggers
⇒ You don't rely on a third party's honesty or capacity to protect your coins
⇒ You won't lose your coins when your device break
• How to use a paper wallet ?
Once you have generated and printed a wallet, you can send coins to the public address, like for any wallet. Store your paper wallet securely. It contains everything that is needed to spend your funds. Consider using BIP38 to secure your paper wallet with a password.
• How to spend the coins stored in a paper wallet ?
You will need to import your private key in a real client, that you can download from the currency website. The exact method to do that will depend on the client. If there is no integrated method, you can usually fall back to the debug console and use the command "importprivkey [yourprivatekey]".
• How paperwalletgenerator.net is different than another wallet generator ?
It's not that different. You will find another design for the paper wallet and some improvements here and there. The big difference is that this is a unique project for a lot of currencies, so more people can review it and check its safety.
Scan QR code using your camera
Permission denied. Your browser should display a message requesting access to your camera. Please click the "Allow" button to enable the camera.
51 characters Base58
52 characters Base58


text:
{{search.results.count}} results {{searchFilter()}} {{searchQuery()}}
{{search.results.count}} results {{searchFilter()}} {{searchQuery()}}
Enter a search term such as "mobile analytics" or browse our content using the filters above.
That's not only a poor Scrabble score but we also couldn't find any results matching
Check your spelling or try broadening your search.
This service is currently undergoing maintenance.
Please try again later.
Yesterday it emerged that Google is planning to encrypt even more organic search queries, thus removing even more search keyword data from sites.
The already tricky task of measuring natural search data has been made even harder by this latest move.
I've been canvassing opinions of search marketing experts on the latest move from Google...
According to Google (via Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land):
We want to provide SSL protection to as many users as we can, in as many regions as we can — we added non-signed-in Chrome omnibox searches earlier this year, and more recently other users who aren't signed in.
We're going to continue expanding our use of SSL in our services because we believe it's a good thing for users….The motivation here is not to drive the ads side — it's for our search users.
Powerhouse Fitness has commemorated the occasion with a special new product:
What does the removal of (most of the) remaining keyword data mean for search marketers?
Rishi Lakhani, Search Strategist:
Depends on what type of a search marketer you are to be honest. Will it make reporting more difficult? Probably. Will our SEO get a little bit less smarter? Probably.
You have to remember that Google keyword tool and Google WMT are highly inaccurate when it comes to reporting keyword data - I have clients that get organic traffic much higher than reported for keyword traffic suggested by Google.
On the other hand, I have been an SEO from the days when we used Overture and the Google KW tool did not exist. I remember having to run logfile analytics as free analytics packages didn't exist (anyone remember AWstats?). As search marketers, most of us are fairly resilient.
If we can't report on keyword traffic we will find work-arounds, and maybe bring back rank reporting as an important metric.
So coming back to your question what it would mean to search marketers? It depends on what type of a search marketer you are. If you are resilient, you would take this in your stride.
Andy Heaps, Operations Director at Epiphany:
First and foremost it means there is less data to analyse and use to inform the strategic and tactical focus of SEO campaigns.
A lack of keyword data makes it more difficult to identify low-hanging fruit (e.g. keywords that drive a relatively high amount of traffic from relatively low positions). Spotting trends in keyword data has also been made more difficult.
If organic traffic / conversions goes up but we can't see what has driven the increase (was it brand or non-brand, was it one keyword or all keywords?), the ability to measure the impact of SEO work is significantly more difficult.
Dan Thornton, Founder at TheWayoftheWeb:
There are already various alternative ways and workarounds to get a reasonable idea of keyword data.
So it simply means more time and expense for search marketers, which may then be passed onto the business or clients.
Neil Yeomans, Head of SEO at Lakestar McCann:
Greater reliance on third party tools and rank tracking software to monitor success.
People will still want a measure of non-brand growth, so we expect tools such as Google Webmaster Tools search query data, Searchmetrics and SEMRush to become much more important over the coming months.
Kevin Gibbons, UK MD at BlueGlass Interactive:
In terms of strategy, it will be more difficult to find hidden gems of referring traffic keywords and long-tail variations.
But being honest, we all saw this coming back in 2011 when Google started to roll out (not provided) and most have started to prepare for this. Whether we like it or not, Google make the rules - so there's not too much we can do to challenge it.
That being said, there are alternatives: http://notprovidedkit.com by Dan Barker being just one example already and we've been using organic market share measurement for a long time now to measure SERP visibility, which I think will only increase in popularity since this move.
Why do you think Google is doing this?
Rishi Lakhani:
Frankly, who knows? However their idea of privacy is ridiculous to say the least. You cant offer privacy, but still SELL the data to AdWords advertisers. It's the same user. It's the same action.
So why should paying marketers get the data they need and organic not? Your privacy is only protected from people who refuse to pay Google. Period.
Andy Heaps:
Given that this only applies to referrals from organic search and not paid search, the argument about privacy doesn't make sense.
The reason has to be commercial – if the only way to get accurate insight into what is working and what isn't is via AdWords, marketers may be more inclined to invest more into paid search.
Dan Thornton:
The current speculation and vague reasons suggest the motivation is increasing privacy for users, particularly in light of recent NSA allegations, etc.
But I don't believe that at all - in terms of governmental intrusions, it won't make any difference as long as they have a server or business address on US soil.
Personally I believe it's another attempt to shift the efforts of businesses away from search and increasingly towards paid advertising and Google+.
Neil Yeomans:
It will further muddy the waters for active SEO and position AdWords / Google Shopping as more transparent and accountable search marketing channels.
It also forces the hand of someone who wishes to analyse keyword performance e.g. conversion rate. To find out, people will need to invest in AdWords or trust Bing / Yahoo! data, which in itself is a drop in the ocean compared to Google's reach.
Kevin Gibbons:
I do think privacy and Prism is a legitimate reason. However, what leaves a sour taste in the mouth is the fact that paid search remains intact while organic search has disappeared completely.
That's the obvious reason as to why people are questioning Google's intention behind this, privacy doesn't appear to be affecting the part of their business that drives the most revenue.
I don't think it will drive more people to paid search and I'm not sure that's the intention. It's probably more the fact that Google wants to be seen as doing its bit towards protecting privacy, and have chosen to remove the part that is least damaging to it.
This makes sense on Google's part, but it is frustrating for the rest of us.
Could it be good for SEOs, in that it makes it harder for amateurs?
Rishi Lakhani:
Not really. With the loss of keyword data, ranking reports will take a larger share of reporting, and actually it's easier to report on rankings than why a specific set of keywords lost their traffic.
Frankly nothing makes it hard to get into SEO. Anyone who 'thinks' they can do it will still get in the game.
Andy Heaps:
SEO has always been hard for amateurs! This will force SEOs to consider and analyse a greater breadth of data sources to understand how campaigns are performing.
There is a risk that the SEO industry will regress a few years and start to once again obsess about rankings but there is also an opportunity to get smarter about how results are reported, looking more at the wider role SEO plays in the overall marketing mix and how much of a role it plays as an enabler as well as a direct response channel.
Dan Thornton:
Not really. It won't massively affect larger agencies and companies who can afford the additional time and cost.
But it will damage small businesses, including agencies, who now have an additional challenge to building their businesses, and I think eventually this will hurt both search results and indirectly impact on search usage, as the incumbents for any term become much more entrenched.
Neil Yeomans:
As with any major shakeup like this there are opportunities for more seasoned SEOs to react quickly, find an alternate way of looking at SEO metrics, and move away from the crowd.
Kevin Gibbons:
Potentially, although if anything I think it drives us more towards having an integrated digital strategy, where SEO is measured as a single channel of a wider marketing campaign.
That will force people to move towards a more multichannel approach (if they haven't already), using clearer business metrics, which will make SEO far more measurable, rather than less.
As SEO has evolved a lot more towards a content-driven approach, one thing I have found increasingly useful is the ability to analyse organic performance per page, as opposed to keyword.
That way you can figure out what content is resonating with your audience best and being rewarded by Google as a result. I'd expect to see this shift continuing, as it's more actionable in the sense that you know what's working, so do more of it!
Is this positive for Bing/Yahoo? Will SEOs now pay more attention to referral data there?
Rishi Lakhani:
The same way we used to equate silly formulas such as Overture keyword data multiplied by 3.5 (because site traffic from Google was 3.5 of Yahoo's) to work out keyword potential, is the same way we will start using arbitrary figures to report.
However, today's search marketers are much smarter, and have many more tools at their disposal, which means that despite the fact that reporting this way may be inaccurate, it might still give you a decent and potentially truer "trend" that can be used to optimise sites.
But is it positive for Bing / Yahoo? Not really. Not unless Bing decides to create a public nightmare for Google by running a PR campaign telling users how their data is still available, for people who pay the price (i.e. AdWords).
SEOs dont make the search engines, users do.
Andy Heaps:
Bing data is going to be more useful now as it's still providing the keyword data that Google now isn't.
I doubt there'll be any immediate benefit for Bing in terms of gaining market share from Google because the regular search engine user is oblivious to all this – and it isn't going to have any immediate or direct impact on the quality of the SERPs.
Dan Thornton:
Hopefully. I'd certainly like to see more of a challenge to Google's dominance, regardless whether it comes from Bing, Blekko, or DuckDuckGo. Certainly Bing seems more likely to continue improving its services and working with the SEO community, rather than pushing people away from them, as Google has done.
After all, most search improvements are aligned with usability and accessibility improvements, so a layer of good quality SEO advice and assistance only helps to improve the internet experience.
Neil Yeomans:
No, because people are still interested in Google rankings.
While Bing and Yahoo! might give some insights to the performance of non-brand keywords the volumes are tiny in comparison to Google, so is the depth of the long-tail, which is far greater than other search engines.
It will be very interesting to see if Bing and Yahoo end up following Google's lead on this. I'm not sure they'll benefit in terms of search market share at all, which is what's important to them - so I wouldn't be surprised if they follow suit, it's just Google are taking the heat for this right now for being the first to move.
Kevin Gibbons:
Yahoo/Bing could provide useful data in the meantime, although I think most people will use a variation of tools and reports, such as Google's new organic vs. paid search report.
Interestingly, the real winners are potentially the enterprise level SEO tool vendors, as SERP visibility and organic market share reports are likely to far more valuable now, given the lack of organic analytics data.
Comments (33)
I don't see how keyword data - out of all the available personal data in Google Analytics - is the big target if you subscribe to the "We're only worried about our user's private data, honest" approach Google has adopted. Surely making the network and physical location data 'not provided' would satisfy this?
Even if location only drilled down to country and nothing deeper - that would easily satisfy the 'concerns' Google has about user privacy.
Taking away keyword data is an attempt to divert focus away from keywords that sell, but in doing that many SEOs/Business owners will go back to obsessing over rankings rather than providing good user experience etc. So again, Google's intentions seem jarring against what most of us can see happening.
Trouble is, whilst the average user is unaware of this (and why should they) then it's just tough luck.
I agree with many above, it looks like a commercial decision for Google to remove keyword data. Why should Paid have keyword data and Non-Paid not especially when the results are in the same session.
I believe, Brand Vs. Non-Brand reporting will become obsolete with the change. This does make transparency of data somewhat difficult, but am sure in due course we will figure out work arounds.
The correlation of traffic to rankings will also be more difficult.
However, with historical data, it should be possible to make educated assumptions on which keywords drive traffic to which URL. If your measuring data at a URL level, you are able to make assumptions based on 80%+ degree of accuracy which keywords belong to a URL.
I do also agree, the smaller clients may suffer more than clients who are able to afford the additional resource and time permitted to make changes to reporting.
94% of my organic traffic so far this week is now showing up as "not provided", that's with 33k visits so not an insignificant piece of data.
Hello Econsultancy,
Thanks for sharing our product on your website!
Since appearing on your blog, demand has shot through the roof(someone actually tried to buy the product) so we have had to increase the price slightly. ;)
Powerhouse Fitness
" However their idea of privacy is ridiculous to say the least. You cant offer privacy, but still SELL the data to AdWords advertisers. "
I agree 1000%! Either block it all or open it all up. You can't have your cake and eat it too. I refuse to spend $1000s in AdWords just to get the data that Google had been giving away for free for years.
I think that most people were expecting this to a greater or lesser degree, but there's no doubt that this makes granular analysis of SEO much more difficult. Things like organic share of voice are going to become more important, but it also potentially forces people back to metrics such as rankings, which should really be invalid in this age of personalised search. I don't think it takes a cynic to wonder why Google are making almost every paid channel more and more transparent whilst simultaneously doing the inverse with organic search...
I'm inclined to agree with Kevin in that I think this is going to further push SEO into the broader marketing mix whereby we are judged on traffic and engagement rather than going backwards and obsessing with rankings etc.
If a client is getting traffic that converts i.e. well produced content that attracts the right type of user, then I don't think they give two hoots about the rest.
To Rishi's point, I think reporting will become more difficult until we figure out an accepted "industry standard" which will ultimately come down to ROI for SEO investment.
SEOs will indeed be forced to rely more on PPC data to help make the big tactical decisions on which keywords to go after which is a shame, but it's Google's search engine and so we must tow the party line.
Whilst the starter price of $150,000 for Google analytics premium is very high level and out of most SMEs range I presonally think they are going to throttle the free service then direct people to a cheaper version of this.
That way they get you doing more PPC and turning standard GA into a freemium taster service and paying for the Premium product.
What Google Simply want to do is.... Monetize
Selling more Adwords to the advertiser and reduce organic share. Its why Google encrypt search term, Money!
As mentioned on here already, Google's motivation here isn't to help privacy for users, that is just their PR - it is simply to try and get more revenue from PPC. I personally can't see how it can be anything else given they are giving KW data in Adwords.
And with regards to their view on tracking, privacy and users, if it was that important to them, why are they now trying to target anonymous users based on their browser/network profiles? http://qz.com/125470/google-can-track-you-without-cookies/
Where I think most agencies will struggle is explaining this move to their clients and also proving the value of their SEO work. Given the industry has spent a decade or more reporting on key phrases, rankings, traffic and other metrics, it is going to take time for clients to change their views in terms of how they view the results of their investments.
As an industry I believe we are going to see more and more of this sort of behaviour from Google given their monopoly so it is going to make it harder for agencies to just to focus on search. Like Kevin and others said, we need to take a much wider of view of search, and even digital, and a more varied approach, to prove ROI more effectively.
The game has changed but unfortunately the way it has changed has been done for the wrong reasons.
(Not Provided)
I can't help but feel this is a great opportunity for Bing. Despite the search volumes being substantially lower, I for one will be paying a lot more attention to Bing's keyword data as well as optimising more for Bing so that data becomes more meaningful and useful.
If Google's end game goal here is to push more people towards Adwords, surely this opens a space for someone to move into for a new search engine who doesn't wish to push their own products so aggressively?
For most of my UK-based clients, even after the latest hike in (Not Provided), they are still getting significantly more visitors with keyword data from Google than from Bing.
The challenge of using the WMT data to try to fill the NP data gap is that it only shows the keywords that drive traffic, you cannot determine which organic keywords are driving conversions.
That's really sad situations for SEOs and it will make things even more complex and time consuming.
Although still there are some fancy ways out there which marketers can use to come over the situation. The one recently posted on econsultancy found really helpful in the context.
Visit: http://econsultancy.com/in/blog/8342-how-to-steal-some-not-provided-data-back-from-google
Seriously, you asked all these people what Google's motivation is and NOBODY said "to crush the competitors in the ad retargeting market"?
If Google doesn't pass keyword data to sites receiving traffic in a competing ad network, that ad network can't cookie your machine with what you searched for. Search retargeting then simply doesn't work. AdWords, of course, will be happy to provide you with various display advertising alternatives...
Joost wrote about this on SEOBook's blog almost two years ago, I'm amazed it isn't obvious to anyone in the industry: http://www.seobook.com/false-privacy-claims
I can't see businesses that don't already use AdWords being concerned enough with the loss of organic keyword data to suddenly decide to spend money on PPC just to get that data. If their enterprise is big enough/the web important enough to spend money getting that data, they're most likely doing PPC already. There may be the odd one, but I'd be very surprised if Google sees a big kick in ad revenue solely because of (not provided).
Some talk about moving to Bing, and many professionals may well do, however, the public is so embedded with Google that they don't even think about it anymore. If you want to sell your product you have to do so on Google.
It's a game changer for sure. The losers will be small companies who can't afford to shell out £1,000s in paid search fees. For the big guns - and Google - it's a winner.
Expect to see a premium SME Google Analytics package soon charging, oh I dunno, £300pm
On the plus site, perhaps,we will see greater focus on quality content. Not holding my breath though!
Actually Google are contradicting themselves - "The motivation here is not to drive the ads side — it's for our search users."
If you know what keywords drive traffic and convert then it helps you create better content for your target audience. I'm not buying into what Google is saying.
Morning all,
Soes anyone else share my view that this will encourage more digital teams/SEOs to focus on page level optimisation rather than keyword optimisation/ranking?
Landing page data is still fully available and a shift in focus could see more people invest in the content marketing/social/PR elements of campaigns to influence key search signals. The side effect would be keyword ranking but the aim would be to increase visibility of key landing pages and drive natural traffic.
Of course that doesn't mean ignore keyword level data and forget about where you rank but I do think increasing the focus on landing pages might actually benefit some companies - deliver a better UX instead of focusing on keyword penetration.
What do you think? Could this be one of the side effects of the (not provided) shambles?
your comment James resonates with me.
Sites like the deceptively simple but smart UX of gov.uk for example place great emphasis on site search as a primary navigation CTA (rather than an auxillary top right buried item) and if you think you can, as a site owner, glean a tonne of data of keyword usage and user intent of that, then cluttered be and end all designs of bloated multi navigation and mobile unfriendly interfaces now seem less appealing.
I want to increase the % of users who use site search per visit as it's easier for me to serve them in future iterations. Yes, we may have funnel and path analytics but there's no denying keyword intent even if it is onsite.
@JamesGurd - I 100% agree.
Unfortunately whether we like or don't like what Google has done its happened.
We can look at landing page performance and we should be clear what keywords we are targeting where. As for Non Brand v Brand I often felt Brand could encourage people to miss insight as to intend I.e was a keyword brand qualified? I.e what does the user associate out brand with.
Perhaps it's not a surprise, perhaps this is Googles way of forcing us to be more UX led?
Google is making this more difficult for marketing depts and companies. The amount of traffic visiting our website with no keyword analysis is rising. This obviously has a knock on effect to planning strategies and tactics for digital activity. Our %age of traffic coming to our site without keywords is growing..fast.
I am concerned by Google's strategy. They are number one IMO primarily because they offer the best search results (& have done so for a long time). But if you haven't got the keyword analysis infomation so you know what you have to tweak and change to get more relevant traffic then surely website's may potentially drive more irrelveant traffic thus damaging the search results they provide? I realise they want to drive adwords. Cynically maybe they believe people will start using adwords links as default search results as they realise they provide the better results for their search?
I would not be surprised if a GA Premium version offering all of this data becomes available as soon as Not Provided gets close to or hits the magical 100% mark.
I understand the comments made in the article around search marketers being "resilient" and taking this change "in their stride", but it's still extremely annoying when all you want to do is optimise your traffic and create a better experience for your customers!
How about this for a drastic suggestion of how to overcome this encryption issue: PPC and SEO will have to start co-operating!!! That means sharing data, trends and insight. Lots of companies say they do, but do they really?
I do not manage Webmaster Tools but that team is seeing the same thing. The interesting thing is we see natural search data coming into AdWords from the recently linked GWMT account...
@Colin Docherty I totally agree, it makes me so angry that Google have done this, but as you said it gives someone else the chance to come in, I just wish someone would do it.
To me, it's not quite an the horrific level in the UK as most companies are seeing the US so the data is still very usable if not fully reportable. As such, it's an inconvenience but not a deal breaker. When you do reach that point however the big question is does the art of natural search actually stagnate. SEO has always been very effective at allowing you to uncover new keywords and identify better performing areas to invest your precious PPC budgets on.
With that potentially at some stage no longer possible it becomes a question of whether you have the budget to do those tests within PPC - The caveats being that a) there is a cost and b) you are doing so blindfolded as you don't have any information up front to tell you you are even on the right lines.
Given Google are unlikely to want to make life impossible for companies though, there is the question of whether GA premium, WMT or something else (paid for inevitably!) starts to allow marketers to get the information they want from their SEO presence...
In terms of other comments:
@James Gurd - I think there is definitely a point there but the difficulty you hit is that only works well if you have a relatively deep and content led site whereby most people don't arrive at your site through your homepage. As a result, I can see that working fantastically well for newspaper websites or giant companies like Amazon but I just don't see it providing the necessary information for your small and medium sized businesses.
For companies where they ultimately drive a relatively simply purchase and focus on bringing people in at a point where they can complete a search for what they want to buy it is more difficult. In these cases you have a single or handful of pages that get most of your traffic which makes the loss of keyword data catastrophic.
@Sam Thom - You're right that a lot of companies don't share their PPC & SEO data as having worked agency side for 7 years, I would say the majority of our clients worked with us on one side but not the other while even where there was synergy, it wasn't as closely linked up as it could be.
The difficulty however is your PPC activity is only going to tell you part of the story as most companies find that their PPC and SEO activity actually often performs in very different ways in terms of usage and conversion rates while there are a lot of keywords over the years that we've unearthed through SEO that we would never have even considered bidding on. Lose this data and where do you even start on that front!
In response to Sam, I don't think they are sharing anything at all. If they did start co-operating, I think it would benefit both parties to an unspeakable extent.
I really enjoy talking about the newest news in the digital marketing world. Come visit my blog and tell me what you think.
It is a money making move for Google. People who want to have accurate stats will have to pay some big bucks. make it a lot harder for the little guy without thousands of dollars in advertising budget.
Quite frustrating but you can always analyse using your landing pages via organic traffic! Just not so accurate!
Google cares about user privacy? No wait, Google wants you to install ad targeting script to enable deeper insights in Google Analytics.
I am so tired of google having monopoly on the search engine market.
Bing and yahoo can't even compete and Google can do whatever they want to. They just want to make a lot of money and that's it.
I've actually written more about that on my blog here:


text:
Top 3 reasons to consider a Christian university
For some of the students with which you work, the question of whether to attend a secular or Christian institution may be an important part of their decision process. This can be a difficult topic, as these students try to discern where God is leading them in the midst of such transition and change. While individuals searching for their true calling and direction in life can certainly follow God's will at secular schools, there are advantages to attending a Christian college or university. Here are the top three…
3. Academic instruction. In many cases, choosing a Christian institution means choosing a smaller setting. According to collegestats.org, 817 of the country's religiously affiliated schools have less than 5,000 students. And nearly 400 of those have less than 1,000. So what's that mean for your academics? It means smaller class sizes, more hands-on learning opportunities and much more individualized attention from faculty. Also, often times, those professors will share the Christian perspective on the subject matters they teach (after laying out all of the other viewpoints, as well), allowing students to explore and discover in an informed manner.
2. Service opportunities. Matthew 20:28 reads, "…the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…" Thus, it's no surprise that the types of institutions that bear Christ's name provide boundless opportunities for their students to serve the world around them. Whether it's traveling halfway across the globe to work with impoverished youth or giving back locally with the vocational skills learned in the classroom and laboratory, these experiences prove life altering for so many. And the best schools will seek not only to provide these outlets at their respective institutions, but also to equip their students for a lifetime of servitude for the glory of God.
1. Students' holistic development. To many (including myself!), the No. 1 reason to consider a Christian college or university is the opportunity to develop holistically as a person. From top to bottom, teh faculty and staff at these institutions care about so much more than just what letter goes down in the grade book. They pour their heart, soul and precious time into students to ensure that they're not only better job prospects, but that they're also better men and women of God. And at a time when fiscal responsibility is on the top of everyone's priority list, that type of college experience is a value that's worth every single penny.


text:
- Home
- News
- Sports
- Opinion
- Obituaries
- Features
- Special Sections
- Classifieds
- Public Notices
Carla Shepherd and Bradley Green of Taylorsville were married Sept. 25, 2012, by a justice of the peace. The bride is a daughter of Carl Shepherd and Dee Metz. The groom is a son of Charles Ernest Green and Patricia Green. The groom is employed at American Roofing Contractors. The couple will reside in Taylorsville.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the The Spencer Magnet, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
|ZIP Code:


text:
RE: Prisons.
(04-02-2013 12:21 AM)Aspchizo Wrote: I think prisons should change greatly in the future, especially if we determine free will to be an illusion.
Yes, and we can call them re-education camps and send anyone who doesn't conform to the current norms.
I think this has been done before.
Skepticism is not a position; it is an approach to claims.
Science is not a subject, but a method.
RE: Prisons.
(04-02-2013 12:21 AM)Aspchizo Wrote: I think prisons should change greatly in the future, especially if we determine free will to be an illusion.That's a pretty big "if" right there.
The following 1 user Likes Vosur's post:1 user Likes Vosur's post
Chas (04-02-2013)
RE: Prisons.
(03-02-2013 06:42 PM)earmuffs Wrote: What I think our justice system, or at least the government, should be focusing on is the much earlier steps (well I think they should focus on all stages, but more so the early ones), such as the troubled home and up-bringing of the child or a child failing in the education system.
OK, but just how far do you want to take this?
When should the government get involved in troubled homes, and what should that involvement be? How will the government even know if a home is troubled? Should all parents have monthly sessions with government shrinks to make sure they're raising their kids correctly (and by correctly, I mean according to what the government establishes as "correct")? What is the penalty, removing the kids from their parents (and put them where)? Jail time for the parents (where to the kids go)? Fining the parents (who often are just scraping by so fining them makes their situation worse, not better)? Public flogging?
Who establishes the definition of what is "correct"? I hope it's not Gov. Perry in Texas - his version of "correct" is certainly different than mine. Are you sure you want to involve the government so heavily in deciding you you raise your own kids?
As for getting involved in schools, the government is already FULLY involved in that, and look where it's gotten us in the U.S. Teachers are paid crap. Classrooms are too big. Textbooks are out of date (if the kids are lucky enough to have text books). Even the kids who want to learn and make something of themselves are fighting a losing battle. Sure, some of them still win, but government-funded and government-run school systems sure haven't made it easy for them.
All of this stuff will cost money. Who's going to pay for it? Taxes? I'm already taxed to the gills, I can barely afford to live. Besides, the rich politicians would work it so the poor working class schmucks would be the ones to shoulder the new tax burden - precisely the people you want to help. Reallocate government spending? Hasn't worked so far; our government can't balance its current budget without adding more costs like this.
You're talking government reforms, social reforms, justice reforms. Heck, when you start unraveling everything that's interconnected this way and try to put it back together into a new tapestry that works, you're practically reinventing socialism.
That's all I need...
There are no easy answers here.
And my fear is, when you give the government that much control, how long until we have no liberties left? If history has taught us anything, it's that governments don't relinquish power once they have it.
"Whores perform the same function as priests, but far more thoroughly." - Robert A. Heinlein
RE: Prisons.
"And my fear is, when you give the government that much control, how long until we have no liberties left?"
That's hard to say but, judging from the U.S. experiment, a damn lot of liberties can vanish in 237 years.
RE: Prisons.
How much control the government should have and who they should put through 're-education camps' isn't a big question to me. If someone is causing another person physical harm, is verbally abusive, or is teaching their children in a way that will lead to them being a burden to society then they should be reformed. Getting everyone to agree on this is the problem, everyone has their own views of how things should be, and we end up with a conglomeration of opinions being made law.
I don't think it would be very difficult to create criterion for when people should be sent to re-education camps and when they are to be left alone. The only reasons for re-education should be physical or verbal abuse, not being a productive member of society, and being a fail-parent. Anything else should be allowed. On a side note I think high school should include a class specifically on how to successfully raise a child.
So unless the specified criterion are met people should be left to do whatever they want. The government shouldn't have power beyond this.
2.5 billion seconds total
1.67 billion seconds conscious
RE: Prisons.
"re-education camps"
RE: Prisons.
(04-02-2013 12:55 PM)Aseptic Skeptic Wrote:No, you're taking what I said too far.(03-02-2013 06:42 PM)earmuffs Wrote: What I think our justice system, or at least the government, should be focusing on is the much earlier steps (well I think they should focus on all stages, but more so the early ones), such as the troubled home and up-bringing of the child or a child failing in the education system.
The most at-risk children are children from poor backgrounds. It's just a fact, poor kids are more likely to get involved in drugs, gangs, crime and violence.
Poverty is the overall underlining issue here.
If you can move poor people to a point where they can work and have a reasonable standard of living, then crime will drastically reduce.
When I say the government should be focused on the family at the very beginning I don't mean the state should assign a referree for that families life. I mean that you need to address why that family, why that child I should say, resort to crime. If you can reduce the poverty rate you can increase that families standard of living and children are less likely to go into crime.
In saying that, welfare needs to be changed too. Part of the issue with poor families is they take the welfare check and just spend it on drugs or booze (not all I know, but the families we're talking about do), what example does that set for the children? It's no wonder children get into drugs or drinking or whatever when the parents are.
Even something as subtitle as a TV add can make a difference.
It's not about a guiding hand, not this monthly family inspection shit you're going on about. It's 100% doable, it's just noone with the power to do so does do so.
I'm not reinventing socialism, I'm saying we (earth) should be heading in that direction.
Capitalism private market sure, but health care, education and prisons should all be state owned and the first two should be free. It's really not hard. Norway, Sweden, Finland, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries considered to have a good standard of living do this. You can have capitalist free markets and still have socialist social policies. You wont turn into a big evil commy, I promise.
As for education, once again it's not about the government controlling everything. It's about teachers realizing the students in need and then the school or whatever getting that student into special learning programs or whatever to get that child back on track.
Here's an idea, free breakfast for all students. Denmark do this. Many poor students go to school without breakfast. Without breakfast you don't concentrate, if you don't concentrate you don't learn (unless you're me), you don't learn to begin with you don't keep up as schooling goes on, you don't get an education, you become unemployable, you resort to crime.
Free breakfast doesn't even need to be a government thing. Here our largest dairy company donates milk to children every morning. For them it's marketing and they can write it off as a charitable donation, and for the children they get free milk. Last night on the news, Tip Top, our largest bread company announced that they are doing that same.
As for the rehabilitation centers, I think that's a shit idea.
While I belive all criminals should be taught a trade or get some sort of education etc.. what you have to remember is that a crime was commited. Irrespective of their background, someone else in the community was wronged and so justice does have to eb served.
This is why I say they should be taught a trade whilst in jail.
Quote:The people who call themselves government don't and can't prevent
Wrong, the government has all the power in the world and are very capable of reacting. It's not a question of can they, it's a question of why the fuck aren't they.
Quote:For instance, you mentioned that the government could do something more
I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that you are mentally fucked in the head.
Quote: Likewise, you can teach a criminal all the job skills in the world, but
Sure. I'm not saying give a criminal a trade skill and he will never be a criminal again. BUT it is a proven fact that criminals who come out of prisons with trades and/or skills are far far less likely to reoffend then someone without who just falls into the same patterns.
What you have to remember is that these people are human beings. More often then not they are in their situation due to a chain reaction of events in their life. If you can, and mind the corniness, show them the light and put a bit of faith and trust in them and teach them a trade then you'd be surprised of the turn arounds that can be made.
It's people like you with this fucked up mentality that criminals are all evil unfixable beasts that is halting any progress in this sector.
Look at the way things are done in America now, please point to where a difference is being made? Crime is high, prison populations are really high, criminals are being thrown out of prison early because room needs to be made for more criminals. It's a failing system. I don't see how any logical person can see how that model is in any way sustainable.
Quote:There are no easy answers here.
There really is an easy answer. There really is.
The government has full power to do something about it, to make actual change to real peoples lives, but it doesn't.
RE: Prisons.
(04-02-2013 04:24 PM)earmuffs Wrote:(04-02-2013 12:55 PM)Aseptic Skeptic Wrote: OK, but just how far do you want to take this?No, you're taking what I said too far.
The governing bodies are made up of inadequate human beings, despite some very strong skills in specific areas, like the rest of us.
Where there is no strong compliance, governments disagree even among themselves, let alone the opposition, and this is healthy, as people en masse at least keep trying.
Democracy, for all its faults, IMO allows for some creative growing for its citizens.
« Next Oldest | Next Newest »
User(s) browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)


text:
The Go-To Book for Irish Crochet Motifs
Vintage flair without the frustration!
The 10 chapters are:
- Stitches & Techniques
- Flowers
- Leaves
- Fill-In Motifs
- Edgings & Insertions
- Dangles
- Overlays
- Fill-In Lace
- Assembly
- Squares or Motifs
(2 reviews)
How do you like this product?
Share your thoughts with the Annie's community.
May 12, 2017
All I can say is Ditto/Amen to Barbara R's analysis of this book!
January 9, 2014
The author did a wonderful job of explaining how and even showing a way to do Irish Crochet in a "faux" mode which I especially liked. After reading this book, I now know why I don't do Irish Crochet as my life doesn't allow for the time it takes to make this beautiful and wonderful creations. There are plenty of motifs and six different fill-ins. The section on how to put them all together is well written and easy to follow. The whole book is done this way. Anyone who crochets can easily make Irish Crochet with this book. The first chapter explains how the padded rings, padded cords, knots, picots and other types of stitches are crocheted. Each has a traditional way and a updated way to make them. The motifs include flowers, leaves, acorns (yep 3D acorns), lace edgings, fill-in motifs, dangles and overlays. All are expertly explained as to how to create each item. If you want to learn Irish Crochet, this is the best book I have ever seen on the subject. You won't be disappointed if you buy a copy.


text:
STOCKTON - A young man was reckless in fooling around with a gun he believed was not loaded.
STOCKTON - A young man was reckless in fooling around with a gun he believed was not loaded.
He pointed it at his friend, cocked it, and pulled the trigger.
He killed his friend.
No one disputes those facts.
But whether it is fair that triggerman Andrew Torres gets a second chance to make something of himself after his release from the County Jail in three months has two families, and their supporters, looking at justice and the law from two different angles.
On one hand, Torres, who will have served about 18 months upon his release in August, will not be exposed to a prison culture that hardens young men, possibly making them more bent on criminal behavior. His family has vowed to be his support system and to help him to make better choices and become a productive member of society.
On the other hand, Alexander Centeno's family is left reeling, still grieving a son, a brother, who had his entire life ahead of him before his days abruptly ended with the pulling of a trigger. They question whether the criminal justice system placed any value on his life at all.
Torres' conviction of involuntary manslaughter in a San Joaquin County courtroom late last month demonstrated that whether justice is fair often depends on your perspective.
Centeno, known as "Zander" to those close to him, was a 21-year-old who was just starting his adult life. He had gotten a job, enrolled in college and bought a car he and his father planned to restore. Centeno loved sports, particularly baseball.
He ran in the same circle as Torres.
Torres came from a good home. He also had a job and is someone advocates say has a bright future. He grew up going to church and volunteering in the community.
These two promising lives crossed paths on Feb. 18, 2013, at Centeno's Holiday Drive duplex.
According to witnesses, the two were among a group smoking marijuana when Torres began playing with Centeno's 9mm gun. He had toyed with it on other occasions.
That particular late night, the group told Torres to stop when he pointed the gun at Centeno's face.
Torres tested his friends, asking if they didn't think he would fire.
Then he did.
Torres has told authorities he thought the chamber was empty and the magazine removed. He said he cocked the gun to confirm there was no bullet.
What he did, in fact, was to load the chamber. And what happened was nothing short of tragic. Centeno died at a local hospital.
To Centeno's loved ones, the involuntary manslaughter conviction and three-year midterm sentence (that was cut in half) is an injustice.
During victim impact statements at the May 27 sentencing, family friend Jason Meath stood up to speak before leaving to feed a city parking meter.
"If I get a ticket, that's about the same thing (Torres) is getting," Meath said to the judge.
Courtney Centeno, the victim's sister, stated in a letter read aloud by the prosecution that the "senseless" act robbed her family.
"Anywhere Zander would be, he was always thinking of someone," the letter said. "Either a souvenir for his niece or nephew (or) simply thinking of the family while taking a quick trip to the store (and) coming home with everyone's favorite candy."
What John Centeno Jr. wouldn't give to go to another Giants game with his son, to see him fill his mouth with sunflower seeds and crack each one individually, just as he taught him.
"You, who will walk out of here one day, will be able to resume your life again," Centeno Jr. said. "As far as the Centeno family and the Sannella family (the victim's mother's side), we have to serve a life sentence."
The court accepted Torres' guilty plea after charges in the criminal complaint bounced from a reckless killing to murder. But the charges reverted to the less severe charge.
The San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office originally filed one count of involuntary manslaughter and tacked on a gun enhancement, which would have increased the sentence to about seven years. It was never the prosecution's intention to send Torres to prison for life.
Prosecutors amended the complaint on a judge's findings that the evidence supported a second-degree murder trial.
In a successive hearing, another judge returned the case to the original count, finding that testimony did not point to murder. This time, the judge removed the gun enhancement. An appeal from prosecutors to the state appellate court was denied.
"I think everyone agrees that he didn't set out to murder him in cold-blooded murder," Supervising Deputy District Attorney Janet Smith said. "I think the complication is that although he did not intend to kill him, he did intend to use the gun."
Smith believes Torres knew the gun was loaded. "He acted with such extreme indifference and negligence to the life of another person by putting this gun to someone's face," she said.
What did he think would happen? "That's the point," Smith said. "It is inheritably dangerous conduct to pull a gun to anyone and pull the trigger."
But according to Deputy Public Defender Sam Behar, to determine the right sentence one needs to look to the law first. Emotions are not an appropriate measure.
For most, the case might sound like murder. "But it's not," Behar said, "because Andrew had no intent to harm his friend at all."
The differentiating factor was his state of mind. Behar said the circumstances surrounding the shooting - the fact that there had been no argument, for instance - show no intent.
"He believed the gun was unloaded and that pulling the trigger was harmless," Behar said. "And he was just wrong."
Behar can appreciate how difficult it is for Centeno's relatives to accept the outcome.
"Because it feels like it's cheapening their son's life," he said. "It's got to be worth more than three years (served) at half.
"That's why these judgments are not left to the victims and the victim's families."
The law aside, Torres' family has expressed deep sympathy.
"What I have heard today is incredibly saddening," his father, Enrique Torres, stated in court at sentencing.
They see the incident as an accident and say Andrew Torres is redeemable.
"We spent so many years dedicated to him," Enrique Torres said. The Torres family said they believe Andrew Torres will make the best of his second chance, and they have vowed to be supportive.
Andrew Torres' youth pastor at Wesleyan Evangelical Church, Phillip Barrett, also vouched for him. "I know he would never intend to do something like this."
Andrew Torres, now 20, offered a tearful apology to Centeno's family. "Every time I wake up and every day that I go to sleep I think of Alex," he said.
His words are of little comfort to Centeno's relatives, who believe that taking responsibility required Andrew Torres to have pleaded to higher charges with a gun enhancement, at least.
They say their fight isn't over and plan to raise concerns with higher court authorities.
Toni Sannella, Centeno's mother, said she plans to seek a review from the Council of Judicial Performance because she believes there is a conflict of interest in the case. Torres' mother, Christine Torres, is a court clerk in the same building where the proceedings took place.
There's no question the sentence has been a tough pill to swallow for Centeno's family.
But whether the results in this case represent justice depends on who you ask.
Contact reporter Jennie Rodriguez-Moore at (209) 943-8564 or email@example.com. Follow her at recordnet.com/courtsblog and on Twitter @TheRecordCourts.


text:
Spell The Word Challenge!
Use your letter cards to add the missing letters in this series of great kindergarten worksheets that turns phonics and spelling into a fun puzzle challenge.Download All (13)
Download All is only available to Education.com Pro members. Learn More
Click on a worksheet in the set below to see more info or download the PDF.
Letter CardsDownload Worksheet More info
Building a reader is hard work! Use these printable letter cards to help your child build phonological awareness.
Spell the WordDownload Worksheet More info
Learn to spell by sounding out the word before you spell it!
Spell it OutDownload Worksheet More info
Introduce your kindergartener to basic spelling with these picture sight words.
Spelling PicturesDownload Worksheet More info
Use these picture word prompts to help introduce your young writer to spelling!
Beginning SpellingDownload Worksheet More info
Has your kindergartener mastered her ABCs? Teach her to spell the word with this fun spelling practice sheet.
Simple SpellingDownload Worksheet More info
If your child is ready for spelling, ease her into it with these fun picture prompts.
The set is continued below.
Spell the Word ChallengeDownload Worksheet More info
Step up to the spelling challenge! Your little spelling bee will sound out each word first, then figure out which letters go best in the blank spots.
Fun SpellingDownload Worksheet More info
Take the spelling challenge to help your child learn the basics of spelling tough words!
Spell ChallengeDownload Worksheet More info
Help your little writer go from ABCs to spelling real words with this fun challenge sheet.
Spelling ChallengeDownload Worksheet More info
Have some fun with your little reader and practice spelling these challenge words!
Challenge Spelling WordsDownload Worksheet More info
Let's practice spelling some big words! Is your little speller up to the challenge?
Fill in the Blank LettersDownload Worksheet More info
Get into the swing of spelling with this fill in the blanks page of challenge spelling words.
The set is continued below.
Fill the Missing LettersDownload Worksheet More info
Uh oh, these words are missing some of their letters! Can your little speller fill in the blanks correctly?
Want to download this whole set as a single PDF?Download All (13)
Download All is only available to Education.com Pro members. Learn More


text:
For one NH soldier returning from Afghanistan, a special greetingBy MICHAEL COUSINEAU
New Hampshire Union Leader
January 16. 2014 8:06PM
CONCORD -- Daddy's home from Afghanistan.
Army National Guard Spc. Derek Dutcher witnessed, thanks to the Internet, his wife giving birth about three months ago while he was stationed more than 6,000 miles away. But nothing compared with hugging his son, Declan, for the first time Thursday.
"A feeling I'll never feel again," the Concord dad said at a welcome-home ceremony at the New Hampshire Army National Guard building.
His wife, Rebecca, said their son served as a reminder of Derek during the months her husband was away.
"I had a piece of him with me at all times," she said.
Dutcher was among 110 returning soldiers of the 237th Military Police Company, deployed to Afghanistan for nine months and returning home Thursday. The company reported no injuries or deaths. (See related story, Page
Soldiers shipped out last Valentine's Day and spent Christmas away from home before returning stateside to Fort Bliss, Texas, over the past few weeks.
Erica Lavoie of Nashua welcomed home her husband, Spc. Joshua Lavoie. No one was complaining about the Christmas tree remaining up in mid-January.
"We're celebrating tonight," she said. Her husband's gifts included an acoustic guitar and a family trip to a water park in North Conway.
Lt. Ryan Short of Colebrook missed more basic things.
"Just the scenery and the air," the state trooper said.
Afghanistan "was very desolate and not a whole lot to look at and not the best-smelling place," he said. "To smell New Hampshire air is overwhelming."
Short said his duties included security and investigations, similar tasks to those state troopers perform.
Afghanistan's summer days topped 120 degrees at times and winter highs remained in the 80s, a long way from the snow and sub-zero chill found in the North Country.
"I'm not ready to feel the cold," Short said.
The company's accomplishments included conducting more than 9,000 U.S. Customs inspections, clearing billions of dollars of military equipment to be shipped stateside, working daily with Slovak and Romanian soldiers conducting law and order operations, and building and manning a Provost Marshal's Office substation.
Spc. Bradley Estabrook also missed his daughter's birth, but was ready to make up for lost time.
"I've been waiting for this for a long time," said the Epping dad, who works security at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover.
His seven-month-old daughter, Ellie, greeted her father wearing a pink shirt reading "Daddy's Girl."


text:
Forum Index
Got info?
Forum Rules
Mortgage Lender
Hedge Fund
Home Builder
IEHI sites:
Fed Gallery of Shame
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
Saving Banks ans CUs while everyone makes money.
View next topic
View previous topic
Implode-Explode Forums Forum Index
Bank Implode-O-Meter
Joined: 19 Jun 2008
Posts: 11
Location: Portland
Saving Banks ans CUs while everyone makes money.
Posted: Fri May 28, 2010 7:50 pm
I work for a small Retail branch for a Mortgage Bank in the NW.
We discovered a way to help out these struggling banks and credit unions that tend of have a lot of second mortgages on their books.
Since January we've helped a small credit union get $4M of bad debt off of their books and we anticipate generating about $250k in revenue per year for the next 5 years or so. Result: we get business, CU gets healthier and offers members better services and increased retention, and savings or loan benefits.
The solution involves a variety of factors and when done properly it is amazing. From what I can tell we're the only company in the country that's figured it out.
Our discovery of the solution came at the right time as a buddy at a local credit union contacted us about a job b/c his CU might close down in 6-12mo. Instead we told him we had an idea and we needed him to help present it to CEOs. He helped, it worked. Result for this guy was: Promotion, raise and a bonus. We weren't planning on this but the CU hired us outright to take over their mortgage department.
We're helping this credit union get a lot of it's bad debts off the books. We're refinancing the first and second mortgages as needed. Some LTVs, CLTVs are 180%. These are not subprime deals we're writing. We found about 3 loopholes I guess you could call them in the guidelines. And we're using about 5 variations to help any clients we can.
Each deal is a case by case basis. Some people we can save $1000/mo some people do not qualify. But in 5 months we've knocked out nearly 25% of what this credit union identified as bad debt/loans.
We're not doing any sub-prime deals or anything like that. We're not doing workouts or mods.
I'm not going to describe in detail the solution because I've signed a confidentiality agreement. If anyone at CU or small bank would like to see the presentation I can set it up. It's about 15-20 min power point and you'll be asked to sign confidentiality agreement.
This has been great recruitment tool for our branch. It's been a great way to generate business. 1 of 10 referrals are actually the solution-type deals. 3 of 10 are regular refinances and 6 of 10 have been purchase referrals.
The state auditor that reviews financial well being had given the CU 12months to turn things around and reach certain benchmarks. After review of what we were doing she extended their grace period to 5 years based on the revenue generated for the Credit Union.
Thought it was pretty cool. I'd love to work with more CUs or regional banks.
Oh yeah, it's important to have in-house operations, processing, UW, docs and funding. Speed and fluidity is key to success and delivery. If the wrong company tried this (many are notorious for sucking) it wouldn't work. They might achieve it but it wouldn't be the same and could eventually cause friction with the CU or Bank.
I don't check this site often. Just thought I'd cruise the forums and see if this issue has been brought up yet.
I'll set a reminder in OUTLOOK to check back with this forum next week and I'll try to address any replies or questions that do not break confidentiality.
It's not the results I achieve that are impressive. It's what I'm not doing to achieve them that is.
Joined: 19 Jun 2008
Posts: 11
Location: Portland
Clarifications and Typos
Posted: Sat May 29, 2010 3:17 am
I realize I had some typos or grammar errors that might change meaning. So I wanted to clarify.
We're generating on average $250k/yr for the credit union in Revenue through TPO agreements. That's not my fee income. But it has been a huge boost to business.
Many members of the credit union benefit from savings and lower rates. They're also super loyal and we help make the CU look awesome and they write great testimonials on our behalf.
None of the loan officers that we've recruited were able to figure this out on their own. They gave up and signed confidentiality agreement to see what it is. I doubt you'll figure out how to do it. Not being cocky. You just have to be forced to find the answer.
At first, the UW on the initial file that gave us the idea said it couldn't be done but we kept asking them to show us where it said that in the rules. The deal made sense. The deal eventually closed.
We presented our findings to our entire company... the VP of operations or similar said 'we couldn't do that it's not in the guidelines.' like many of us would normally do at first.
The next slide in the presentation was the Final HUD showing the loan funded in our name and we could and did in fact do that. Kind of cool (makes up for a lot of times when an obscure rules messes up your deal).
It's not the results I achieve that are impressive. It's what I'm not doing to achieve them that is.
Display posts from previous:
All Posts
1 Day
7 Days
2 Weeks
1 Month
3 Months
6 Months
1 Year
Oldest First
Newest First
Implode-Explode Forums Forum Index
Bank Implode-O-Meter
Jump to:
Select a forum
General Forum Discussion
General Discussion
-- New Members
-- Idle Chatter (aka "The Romper Room")
Finance & Economic Discussion Forum
Political Debate and Discussion
Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter
-- Mortgage Jobs Board
-- The Mortgage Marketing Board
-- Loan Scenarios
-- Foreclosure, REO, Loan Mod's or Short Sale Talk
-- FHA Forum
Bank Implode-O-Meter
Home Builder Implode-O-Meter
Hedge Fund Implode-O-Meter
Commentary on News, Articles and Blog Posts
Mortgage & Housing
-- News Discussion
-- Company Discussion
-- FHA Blog Discussion
-- FHA News Discussion
-- Article discussion
Mandelman Blog Discussion
IEHI news discussion
Home Builders
-- HBI News Discussion
-- Home Builder Implosion / Ailing / Watch Discussion
-- Bank Blog Discussion
-- Writedown and Distress Discussion
-- Implodes Discussion
-- Bank News Discussion
Hedge Funds
-- HFI News Discussion
-- Hedge Fund Implosion / Ailing / Watch Discussion
-- HF Articles Discussion
Forum Archives
The Niche Report - Mortgage Industry Magazine
Miscellaneous Housing & Finance Discussions
-- Note and REO
-- Stock Talk
-- Economic News
-- Commodities
-- All Things Taylor, Bean & Whitaker
Appraisers' Corner - Everything Appraisal
National Valuation Service - Registrants Only Forum
Chavez Watch
Bernanke Panky / Fed Gallery of Shame
View next topic
View previous topic
post new topics in this forum
reply to topics in this forum
edit your posts in this forum
delete your posts in this forum
vote in polls in this forum
Powered by
2.0.22-2 (Debian) © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group ::
FI Theme
:: All times are GMT


text:
Every summer the River Front Times hosts a local music showcase. It's a big one day festival featuring 2 big outdoor stages during the day and 12 smaller indoor venues in the evening. There were 50 bands for $5. I consider that a challenge to see as many new bands as possible. At first I was disappointed that the showcase was not on the Delmar Loop this year, but it turned out that the Washington Avenue location was perfect for jumping between different bars. I don't normally frequent the night club scene, but this event served as an nice introduction to the surreal experience that is Wash Ave on a Saturday night. It seems that the booze flows freely on city streets there; girls are always dressed to go to prom; strangers give sushi and vodka-sprites to strangers; driving with all your car doors open is acceptable; the purpose is to drive as slowly as possible as many times as possible down the street; Clubbers hardly even notice that there is a rock n roll festival going on all around them…
I started at 6pm on a patio watching Pretty Little Empire play some really solid indie rock songs. They rotated instruments and singers often which gave the intense and emotive songs a nice informal feel.
Soon I moved on to see Beth Bombara and the Robotic Foundation. Beth is the center of the show here with loud guitar and intimate vocals. However, the drummer really caught my eye. He had my ideal drumming style, simple but effective, and the carefree manner of a man confident in his expertise.
Next I headed to the Dubliner for the Dock Ellis Band which was one of the very high points of the night. The Dock Ellis Band is fucking hilarious. Singer Jesse Irwin has the perfect country rock persona. He's a beer drinkin', whisky shootin', howlin', cheatin', dirty man. He is backed by a really solid band that started the set by ordering 10 beers. Don't miss out on a chance to see this band!
I cooled things down with Cassie Morgan and the Lonely Pine, where the Lonely Pine is really just Beth Bombara again. Cassie played very intimate, mellow songs that would be perfect in another setting but did not seem quite at home in a bowling alley(Flamingo Bowl). Beth assisted with toy piano, wine glass, and even the bowed xylophone, which was a first for me.
I jumped up the block to see Jumbling Towers at Hair of the Dog. Allow me to describe the venue: 15 feet wide, 300 feet long. Jumbling Towers played an admirable set of jaunty pop songs, and their cadre of buzz band fans were there in force video taping the whole thing. The show was diminished by the inability to see the band and the fact that you basically had to walk through the stage to enter the venue.
I headed down to see Theodore perform to a capacity crowd. If you vaguely like americana or country music I implore you to go see this band. They do it all from raucous stompin' ragers to quiet lullabies. The instrumentation is always changing to include horns, accordion, and even a weird Casio electronic guitar. Don't miss these guys.
New band Flaming Death Trap played a phenomenal set at Rue 13. Their heavy songs always have a hook to hold on to, and it pulls you into singing along. Rue 13 seems more appropriate for go go dancers than rock bands, but the space really worked. The crazy strobe lights and enormous disco ball gave the set a rather surreal, yet exciting, feel. FDT played into this vibe and did their best rock star act. Look out for this band in the future.
I closed out my night seeing Fattback with a bunch of drunkards in the back room of the Dubliner, where I watched empty beer bottles slide off a wobbly table one after another. By this point the band was much more energetic than I was, but they acted as a pick-me-up. A mixture of good rockers with a couple silly songs was a pitch perfect ending for the night. This is a band that does not take itself too seriously, as reflected in their educational song about dinosaurs.
At 2am I was exhausted, but Washington Avenue showed no sign of slowing down. Cars filled with beer drinkers and bass blasters cruised the street as I headed home. The showcase had been a great success and shown some highlights from a vibrant music scene happening right beneath our noses. If I may co-opt the Fattback singer's words: You'd be a stupid idiot if you missed it.


text:
The Jindal administration hopes to fix flaws in the new "cash balance" pension plan, while two major retirement systems are trying to get a year's delay in its planned July 1 implementation.
Although Gov. Bobby Jindal opposes any delay, the Louisiana State Employees Retirement System, and the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana, or TRSL, have served legal notice that they will ask the Legislature to approve a resolution suspending the law.
Jindal cannot veto such resolutions.
A state district court judge last month ruled that the 401(k)-type plan, known as cash balance, did not receive the required votes for passage. Administration lawyers have filed for a suspensive appeal in 19th Judicial District Court, while the issue goes to the Louisiana Supreme Court where it will be decided.
Cash balance, which affects new hires, was the only major piece of Jindal's proposed pension system revamp to clear the Louisiana Legislature during the 2012 session. Other legislation making current members of LASERS and TRSL work longer for less benefits failed to win passage.
A legal notice has been filed indicating that legislation would be filed in the upcoming 2013 legislative session that addresses the cash balance plan's administration and operation, membership, contributions and eligibility.
The Governor's Office confirmed the legislation in the legal notice is part of a package for the session that opens April 8.
"We are continuing to meet with legislators, as we plan for the upcoming session, and no final decisions have been made on retirement system legislation to pursue," Jindal's Chief of Staff Paul Rainwater wrote in an email statement. He would not agree to answer questions about the issue.
"However, we want to be ready to address any issues that might be raised by the courts," Rainwater stated.
If the Louisiana Supreme Court agrees with the lower court's ruling, the administration must go back to the Legislature on its cash-balance plan, and get a two-thirds vote of approval required by the constitution because it adds to pension costs.
If the administration wins the appeal, the new law still would need some alteration, said Maureen Westgard, the TRSL executive director. Westgard said the pension system has identified at least 13 issues that need to be resolved in how the plan is administered.
Cindy Rougeou, the LASERS executive director, said her board favors a delay in implementation "due to the significant federal issues that have yet to be resolved" involving the plan's Internal Revenue Service and Social Security status.
Adverse decisions from the IRS could subject employees' vested contributions and retirement system trust earnings to taxes. In addition, some employees would have to be enrolled in Social Security if the state benefit is not equivalent to Social Security's — adding to state employee and taxpayer costs. The costs would be levied retroactively from the plan's start, said Maris LeBlanc, LASERS deputy director.
TRSL also supports the delay "given how many complications there are with the court case and Social Security equivalency," Westgard said. "There appears there may be some interest in suspending that (law) ... probably not from the administration."
House Retirement Committee Chairman Kevin Pearson, R-Slidell, said he doesn't see "a tremendously active session" in the pension arena.
"Legislators said 'don't bring another retirement bill back,' "said Pearson, who sponsored the cash balance plan. He said cash balance clean up legislation is on the table.
Senate Retirement Committee Chairman Elbert Guillory said he's working on legislation that will guarantee cost-of-living raises to retirees but at the same time require an additional contribution by active employees and change how the pension benefit is calculated.
Companion legislation will provide revenue streams that can be used to pay for the COLAs, said Guillory, D-Opelousas.
"I really expect the (employee) contribution to be temporary. I expect and hope we will be able to get enough money, we will not need to ask people to make that extra sacrifice," Guillory said.
He said he has four ideas to pitch to Jindal including earmarking 2 percent of all state settlements, and 2 percent of the interest on unclaimed property, proceeds for tickets for driving in the left lane on multi-lane highways and taxes on games at "racinos," a race track with casino gambling games.
LASERS and TRSL also served legal notice they will ask the Legislature to change the calculation method that determines employer payments to "entry age normal." The proposal got nowhere last year.
The pension change could have saved state government about $40 million last year.
In projecting actuarial cost, the normal cost is a lower percentage of salary in early years of service. The normal cost increases annually as each member approaches retirement eligibility.


text:
Date: Wednesdays | 12-1:15pm
Location: Community House
This class explores the Torah portion that is read on Shabbat for that week. Students are encouraged to share their insight and opinion during each class as we mine our tradition and investigate life's deepest questions. The class uses the Plaut Modern Commentary on the Torah and many other texts and commentaries to understand the weekly portion from an ancient and modern perspective.
See more Adult Engagement events.


text:
A red Snoopy backpack and two pigtails… I remember my first day of school like it was yesterday!
My mom (also a teacher) made back to school time so much fun. She'd sneak a note on my napkin and a treat in my lunchbox. And she'd encourage me to look for kids in the classroom who looked lost or lonely, and go make a new friend.
Now I'm getting ready to do the same with my soon-to-be kindergartner and I find myself with the same checklist
1. Shop online!
This is saving me so much time and hassle. Our school supply list is intense: 36 glue sticks (No purple!) and 2 folders w/bottom pocket only – plastic preferred. Um….. is it just me or are these rules a lot more specific than when I was a kid? I don't have time to scan the aisles and visit 10 different stores. I'm thankful for Amazon.com!
2. Ask other moms!
How do I help ease first-day jitters? What's a good homework routine? How do I help my daughter make new friends?
Other moms advice is one of the best things I've ever found. I need help navigating the carpool drop off line and school programs. The more I ask – the better off I am. Plus, I'm making new friends in the process!
3. Talk Talk Talk!
My mom always asked how my day was. When I'd give a one-word answer, she'd ask more specific questions until I opened up. I knew I could talk to her about anything from report cards to bullies. She was very involved in my schooling and that lasted through College! I want the same for my daughter. Helping her navigate these years is my priority.
4. Prep the night before
My mom had a rule: permissions slips that didn't get signed the NIGHT BEFORE didn't get signed at all. Tough rule? Yep. But it saved us a lot of hassle on the day of big events.
Lunches got made in advance with all the non-perishable ingredients, assembly line style, each Sunday night. Clothes were laid out the night before, and anything that could already be in the car was.


text:
The PhD in Electrical Engineering program prepares individuals to perform original, leading-edge research in the broad areas of communications and signal processing; mixed-signal IC design; digital systems; power electronics; microelectronics and nanoelectronics; optics; optoelectronics; light-wave devices and systems; RF and microwave systems; biomedical applications of electrical engineering; VLSI design; power electronics; renewable energy; vehicular technology, control theory, robotics and wireless communications.
Because of our strong collaborative programs with Dallas-area high-tech companies, significant emphasis is placed on preparation for research and development positions in these specialized industries.
Interdisciplinary graduate degrees are offered in both telecommunications engineering and computer engineering.
School: Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science
Program: Electrical Engineering
Catalog page: PhD
Degree requirements: Master's degree in electrical engineering or a closely associated discipline from an accredited U.S. institution or from an acceptable foreign university
GPA: Minimum in graduate-level course work of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale
Test score required: Yes
GRE revised scores of 154, 156, and 4 for the verbal, quantitative, and analytical writing components, respectively, are advisable.
Letters of recommendation: 3
Applicants must submit three letters of recommendation from individuals who can judge the candidate's probability of success in graduate school. Use the electronic request form in the graduate application to submit the letters. Contact the graduate academic program department if you have any questions.
Deadlines: University deadlines apply.
Marco Tacca (EE Graduate Advisor)
Office - ECSN 3.522
Randall E. Lehmann
EE Graduate Advisor
Office - ECSN 4.616
P. K. Rajasekaran
EE Graduate Advisor
Office - ECSN 4.922
Patricia Williams
Graduate Program Information
Office - ECSN 4.522
Graduates of the program seek positions such as: Professor, Research and Development Engineer and Consulting Engineer in the public and private sector.
See Bureau of Labor Statistics for detailed salary information on these careers. Another great resource is the Occupational Outlook Handbook.
|The University of Texas at Dallas | Office of Admission and Enrollment
|[email protected]
|Student Services Bldg | 800 W. Campbell Rd, Richardson, TX 75080-3021